[fanfic] Life or Death Match
Title: Life or Death Match
Recipient's Name: lexxiescott
Author: maya_hayashi
Rating: PG-13.
Wordcount: 4551
Pairing/characters: Niou/Yagyuu, Rikkai, Seigaku
Warnings: None, I guess?
Author's Notes: Italic text = thoughts of the characters. Story is set three years after the canon. Wow, it's been some time since I wrote anything... Enjoy it! :)
Summary: All Niou wanted was a rematch with Golden Pair. He wanted to beat them and become the best doubles pair in the high school world. But instead, he had to fight against them for his life. For Yagyuu's life. Rule was easy. Win or die.
Pffffft. Niou snorted as he read.
Revolution in tennis
Known as Golden pair, Oishi Shuichirou and Kikumaru Eiji from Seishun Gakuen are considered as the best Japan's doubles pair in the high school world by rights. Achieving synchronization at age of 14, they are rivals even for adult professionals who commented that it was very hard to play against Kikumaru's acrobatic play style combined with Oishi's volley techniques. "It was amazing to play with them. Even they lost, they were smiling cheerfully. Those talents are the future of Japan's tennis. I am looking forward to our next match. But I am afraid it will be us, who lose next time,“ joked Sashihara Keito, top doubles player. Growth of the boys is beyond belief, they even developed few own tennis shots like Kikumaru Bazooka. I wonder what we will see from them in the future?
Another excellent pair is from this year’s champion school, Niou Masaharu and Yagyuu Hiroshi from Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku. Nicknamed the Trickster of Courts and the Gentleman, these two make the unpredictable pair…
Niou frowned. That was the article, written by Inoue Mamoru, who was stalking them all the time, from latest Gekkan Pro Tennis, talking about junior tennis and its future.
Excellent pair. We’re just the excellent pair. We’re not the best. The thought annoyed him so much, he believed that he and Yagyuu were way better than Golden pair, in terms of techniques, both physical and psychical conditions.
Kikumaru Bazooka sucks. Oishi’s Moon Volley sucks even more. Synchro is no use against us. Kikumaru’s stamina is twice shorter than mine. Why can’t we beat them?! Damn!
All of us want to be the best, at least once, in something. And Niou was already the Japan’s champion, but he wanted to become the best doubles pair, even if it was for few weeks before the graduation. But according to ratings, they were always second. Second. This bugged him so much. But we suck the most, because we can’t defeat them.
Still, they could change it. This Saturday, they had an official match with Seigaku planned, one of the last matches in this school year. If they win against Golden, they will get enough of points, to be the first. The best. Ii yo. That’s good.
“This time, let’s decide it fair and square,” mused Niou loudly and exactly that moment, Yagyuu entered a clubroom. “Oh, Niou-kun, you are already here? I haven’t expected anyone.”
“It’s you, Yagyuu. Haha, yeah, I ditched the classes, we were supposed to write a History exam and I hadn’t studied.”
“Aww,” Yagyuu sighed and mentally slapped his forehead. With this attitude, Niou was not going to pass graduation exams. Well, Niou himself didn’t care about it, right now he was making plans how to beat Golden Pair.
*
“So. Akaya, you are going to be our cheerleader. Here, I got you a pretty dress, look,” Bunta threw Akaya two pieces of black and red clothes.
“Haha, very amusing, senpai,” retorted sarcastically Akaya, critically examining the miniskirt and the top he had gotten.
“Indeed! That would suit you and show your nice legs,” Niou teased Akaya as well. Rikkai regulars were sitting in a train, heading to Tokyo. Dazzling sun shone so brightly, as if it was smiling. Perhaps it really was. The perfect day for a tennis match.
“Maybe if you put on a bit of make-up, you would make a sweet girl,” said Yagyuu with a playful smile on his lips, looking from a window, as if he said nothing.
“But sorry, you’re not my type.”
“Oh, that’s sad,” Bunta patted Akaya’s shoulder. Journey passed in similar manners quickly and now they were standing in front of Seigaku where they bumped into a blue team.
“Everyone, welcome here! Welcome, Yukimura-kun,” Tezuka greeted them friendly and shook hands with Yukimura. Seigaku were complete, only Echizen was missing, he was wandering somewhere in America again. They got used to the fact that he kept popping in Japan and then leaving without saying bye.
Three years ago, they would stare at one another silently (and Sanada would try to kill his opponents by his glare), but during those years, thanks to many occasions (like U17 camp, Nationals), great friendship was formed. They were rivals in tennis, but not in life and now they were chatting lively.
“Renji, I’ve come up with new Inui juice with wasabi flavour, it boosts up your energy 10 times, probability 100%, do you want to try?” Inui suggested his childhood friend who shook his head.
“No, thank you Sadaharu, I think I pass this time.” Better to pass it now, than to drink it…and pass away later.
They changed into tennis clothes in Seigaku’s clubroom which was a bit small for all of them. Every time, Niou couldn’t help himself not to gaze at Yagyuu’s topless body. Pale skin, well-developed muscles from exercising, amazing butt, long strong legs. Oh seriously. If Niou was an Internet fangirl, he would probably go ‘asdfghjkl’ right now and then again and again.
Haha, and after we win the match, we will go somewhere to celebrate it with everyone. To eat, to chat, to make fun of Sanada, that sounds great and then I can drag Yagyuu to my house and I don’t care if he refuses, yes I’ll do that and we can have the whole night just for ourselves…
“Niou, what are you doing, hurry up!” Sanada interrupted Niou from his musings. As if Sanada knew that Niou had thought of him.
Pffft, damn him, I was just getting to the more interesting part. But admit it Masaharu, you just want to fuck Yagyuu now. As everytime you see him. No no, you can’t think of that right now, you have to clear your mind, concentrate on playing tennis…
“Okay, okay,” answered Niou and smiled innocently as he caught Yagyuu’s look.
Line up for matches was decided.
Singles 3: Inui vs. Yanagi
Doubles 2: Momoshiro & Kaidou vs. Marui & Kuwahara
Singles 2: Fuji vs. Sanada
Doubles 1: Kikumaru & Oishi vs. Niou & Yagyuu
Singles 1: Yukimura vs. Tezuka
After short stretching, first pair of players was standing on a court. Without hesitation, they started playing. 1-0, Inui. 1-1, Yanagi. 1-2, Yanagi. Match went swiftly. In the middle of the game, a school principal of Seigaku appeared. Old man, maybe in his fifties to sixties, had grayish hair, on his nose, big black framed opaque glasses, he was smiling widely. “Wow! Those boys are really good! It’s hard to even see their shots!” He commented. They really were.
Inui and Renji’s strength was on the same level and soon they reached tie-break. The toughest part came now. Having a little break, suddenly a creepy voice began to speak…
“Attention, attention please!” Everyone stopped their activities and looked around, but didn’t see anyone. It seemed the voice was amplified though a megaphone.
“I’m truly sorry for interrupting your match. But I have something to tell you. Firstly I should introduce myself, I don’t want to be rude. My name is Chigata Akudori.”
Boys raised their eyebrows. And…?
“Maybe you are wondering why I’m talking to you. Well, I wanted to see some good tennis. Tennis full of passion, sweats of hard work, happiness, despair, real emotions, you know? So, I travelled from my world to this world to you, boys.”
“My world?” Akaya blurted out. There’s only Earth or is he an alien?
“No, I’m not the alien,” Chigata replied, as if he knew how to read minds. “I’m from Earth as well as you, but I come from year 2174,” said he and let out silent giggle.
“Are you joking?” asked Momoshiro and gave a little cackle.
“No, of course I’m not, I wouldn’t dare to do that. I don’t even know how to, everyone says I’m a boring guy. But, as I said, I would like to see some great tennis, I came here. In order to achieve it I made a new rule. Win or die. Sounds good, right? Those who will win, will live and those who will lose, will die. I can kill you, anytime. Is it clear? Easy, right? Because none of you want to die, you will do your best, won’t you?”
“Seriously, we are just losing time here, please, stop interrupting us or we will call police,” stated Sanada clearly. Everyone was convinced that this was just a joke. But still, there was something petrifying about the situation. People never joke about death.
“What? Call police? I don’t think that they would help you anyway. I can prove it that I’m from future. In last 150 years, Earth changed completely. Humankind was almost destroyed, by its fault, obviously. No, it wasn’t because of a war, but they polluted air and ground so badly, that they couldn’t breathe nor grow plants. That was called era of fear. Fortunately, they overcame the crisis and learnt how to take care of it better. Also, we developed things you could only dream of, like spaceships as fast as light velocity, mind readers, teleportation, but also a time machine. Though existence of the time machine is unknown for public, only few people like the most important politicians and scientists like me, who developed it, know that. It would be a catastrophe, if somebody abused it and, I give you an example, travelled to the past and helped Hitler to win 2nd world war, right? Or created a new war, it would be horrible,” he stressed the last word.
“But I don’t have such intentions, I don’t want to change the world. I just want to play a bit with you.”
0,0001934 % probability that this is happening.
“Probability 100% this is happening! Of course, I can read your mind as well. Oh, I feel so sad that you don’t believe me, people from the past are really odd, aren’t you? Okay, see, I show you a proof,” shouted Chigata. Boys and the school principle stood there paralyzed. Joke, right, just the joke. But he said that something was supposed to occur. The silence sent shivers down their spine. Doki doki. All they could hear was their throbbing heart.
All of sudden, the school principal grabbed his chest, wheezed and fell down to his knees. Before the boys could move, before anyone could react, he hit the ground heavily, his heart stopped beating. Tezuka quickly recovered, ran to give him first aid and shouted: “Call the ambulance, quickly!” Maybe they can do something…
But they didn’t manage to resuscitate him, no matter what. They even couldn’t call the ambulance, all their mobile phones were broken. That wasn’t a coincidence. That wasn’t a natural heart attack. Everything happened just in seconds or minutes.
“Why did you do that? Why did you kill him?” Tezuka groaned out, kneeling next to the pallid corpse which slowly changed into white soft sand and then it was blown away by autumn breeze.
“You wanted the proof.” Why was that happening? Run away. Run away. That was their only thought. “You can try it, but it’s useless.” Chigata was right. Around them, about ten metres from the court, there was invisible barrier which prevented them from going away. They were trapped in a time barrier Chigata had created, time didn’t flow there. The mobile phones broke down and Chigata said that nobody from outside would hear or see them. Who would go to school on Saturday, anyway. That was only beginning of their nightmare.
There’s no way out.
“Now, go to play.” And they knew he meant Renji and Inui.
“What if we refuse?”
“Then I kill both of you. But that wouldn’t be any fun. Not at all.”
“Then let’s do it,” said as one man Renji and Inui.
Ping. Ping. Ping. Those two weren’t playing seriously, the regulars could see it. Obviously, there were ridiculing Chigata guy. Mocking him. If no one wins, no one dies…? This was too transparent and Chigata noticed it.
“You’ve got 30 minutes to win, if nobody wins, then bye bye to both of you,” he said maliciously. He was playing with them as with his toys, controlling them. He liked it. They knew he did. But they couldn’t kill each other. Just couldn’t. Is there a way out of this? They kept playing. Somebody might come and save them or tell them: “Look, there’s a hidden camera!” But, the school principal died in front of them. Nobody came and they were running out of time, tiebreak score was 0-0. 4 minutes were left.
“I want to forfe-“
“NO! Don’t do it, senpai!” Kaidou shouted, interrupting Inui’s sentence. “Please, don’t…” Kaidou’s own voice betrayed him.
Sadaharu… Renji exactly understood Inui’s feelings, they had been friends for many years. He felt the same way.And he knew he wouldn’t be able to live, knowing that his best friend died for his sake because of one… one stupid guy from the future who just fooled around with them.
“Sadaharu, will we do it together?”
“Renji!”
“Senpai!”
“Yanagi! Stop!”
Renji…
“I’ve decided. Let’s do it together. As we always did,” Renji gave Inui a little smile. He didn’t regret his decision. Then he turned to his Rikkai friends. I’m sorry.
“Thanks you for everything, all the time we spent together, all the fun we had, I am sincerely happy that I had met you… Jackal, I have always admired your burning soul, the glowing fire inside of you. Never let it go out. Bunta, keep smiling, your smile always brings us happiness. Yagyuu-kun and Niou-kun, it was always fun to spend my time with you. Genichirou, do you remember the day we met? I accidently bumped into you in school hall, because I was reading a book. It was the best accident ever. Seiichi, thank you for being by my side all the time. And Akaya… After those five years, you managed to beat me after all. You really got stronger. But go even higher, Aka-“
“All time has left and we don’t have a winner. Awww, what a shame!” Chigata proclaimed, feigning sorrow. “I wanted to see good tennis… That means… What kind of death do you want?”
No one replied. “Go even higher, Akaya, for me.”
On the Seigaku side, similar conversation was going on. Inui turned to his kohai Kaidou. He had so many to tell him, but, he ran out of words. ”Kaidou… I… Thank you for everything.” White sand started to fall from his clothes and body, as well as from Renji’s. What was that? They didn’t know, but this was how the school principal had disappeared. Before they realized, tears ran down their cheeks.
“No…Please stop it, I’ll do anything, please, cut it out, I’ll do anything for you!” Yukimura begged, shouting, looking around, looking for the source of the voice, with eyes full of tears. He was the captain, right? The captain of a legendary tennis team Rikkai Dai Fuzoku. The captain who had to protect his team.
“Oh, I’m sorry, but rules were stated clearly,” Chigata sighed. “No exception.”
Renji and Inui looked at each other. Looking back to regulars, with a smile they told them: “We will meet again in the next life. Probability 100%.” Data never lies. And thus they vanished, only white sand remained and soon, it was drifted away as before. Away.
They didn’t care anymore. All Chigata heard was loud cry, shrieks of despair, exactly what made his heart dance in pleasure. He wanted more and more.
“Oh, let’s move on, boys, what do you think? Doubles two, boys, come here!”
*
No hope. Misery. Nothingness.
“Who else has to die to satisfy you?! How many of us have to die?! Tell me! Answer me!” Niou watched Yukimura pleading there in the middle of the court. He watched Akaya, sitting next to him, shaking, embracing his knees under his head, eyes were red. Akaya cried so much that he couldn’t continue anymore. What was the meaning of this? He watched Kaidou and Momoshiro, Sanada… The winners. Were they really winners? Their eyes were dull, lifeless… They did kill their friends.
Inui, Renji, Bunta, Jackal, Fuji… they were away. Disappeared with the wind.
I will give your love to Renji and Inui-san, don’t worry. Thank you for everything. Please, take care of Yuuta. Niou kept hearing their voices, last sentences, seeing their faces, before they died. At least they didn’t suffer. Now it was his and Yagyuu’s turn.
They had decided to play. To determine who would live and who would die. It was better if somebody survived and returned home. But the win brought only grief and nothing more.
“Take my life instead of theirs!”
Yukimura-buchou…
“Don’t worry, I’ll be happy to take your life after you lose, boy,” Chigata made a childish remark and then, Yagyuu rised to his feet. Clearing his throat, he gave Chigata a question.
“Excuse me, but can you tell me, how many people live in the world in year 2174?”
Pfft. Even, in such situation, Yagyuu is being well-mannered, Niou thought.
“About 14 billions on Earth, why are you asking?”
“And how many people live in Japan?”
“150 millions.”
“Have you considered the fact that some of us might be your ancestors? Let’s say that all of us would have two children and those two children would have another two children and so on. The chance that you might be one of our descendants is great. If you kill us, our potential children will never be born, so will you.”
“You are quite clever boy, huh? No, I haven’t thought of this. Very clever. I hadn’t expected this. But I have to disappoint you. I was born from test-tube.”
“You were born from tube, eh? How beautiful,” Niou snorted without thinking and stood up as well, taking place next to Yagyuu. “In that case, I want to see you, man, oh, mutant from a test tube, stop hiding.” I want to see who killed my friends. Face us.
Pause.
Nothing occurred for a while. Then, before their eyes, something started to materialize. Or somebody. Tall, handsome man, dressed in tight, grey leather suit, with sharp face features and Sanada-like haircut. Everyone stared with eyes widely open. He was the enemy.
“You called me mutant, eh,” said Chiagata and stared at both of them with the face twisted into an ugly smile.
“Yes, you are, hey look at yourself, one your eye is red and one is yellow,” Niou laughed at him courageously.
“What a cheeky boy. You aren’t scare of me? Oh, kids of the past are so horrible. They don’t have any respect, they do what they want. I wonder how you will talk after you lose, it’s now your turn isn’t it?”
Yes, it was. Long time desired match came. But Eiji nor Oishi were in state to play. Trembling, they entered the court. I don’t want to do it. I can’t. They were given two hours from Chigata. 1 hour 59 minutes.
Mistakes from Golden Pair came one after another and Niou and Yagyuu won the first set, without even touching the ball. “Kikumaru, get hold of yourself!”
This wasn’t what Niou had expected, even in his the craziest fantasy. Win or die. Funny. It reminded him U17 camp. Win or return home. Chigata stood in the corner of the court, far from others, amusingly watched the match and sometimes, uttered something and laughed. Niou wasn’t able to play against Golden. If he defeated them, he would kill them. But if he lost, that meant... Yagyuu would die. The only one he truly loved. He wasn’t concerned about himself, but Yagyuu couldn’t die. Just couldn’t. 1-0 Niou & Yagyuu. 2-0 Niou & Yagyuu. 3-0 Niou & Yagyuu. 3-1 Kikumaru & Oishi. 3-2 Kikumaru & Oishi. 3-3.4-3. 4-4.
Niou just recalled the memory from middle high school. In the third year, in Kantou finals, he and Yagyuu played against Golden Pair and for the first time, they switched. He loved the moment when everyone discovered that they had been tricked. Those faces. That was epic.
5-4. 5-5. 5-6. 6-6. Just kept playing. Maybe something would happen. Or not. Niou wasn’t the one who believed in miracles. He had to do something, miracles don’t happen. He will do something.
He synchronized with Golden Pair.
Niou-kun.
Do you think, there is some ‘next life’? Niou asked.
Definitely, there is, answered Oishi.
Then I demand a proper rematch next time.
What do you mean, muttered Eiji silently.
Niou left.
Before he could say or do anything, Chigata started again.
“Oh guys, your tennis is boring. I think I go to find somebody else to toy with.”
Is he going to kill us?
“No, I don’t kill you all. Go home, do whatever you want, tell it everyone, nobody is going to believe you by the way.”
Really? Really?
Small spark of hope.
“Though, one of you had made me upset. And he won’t slip through without a punishment.” All eyes turned to Niou, including Chigata’s. Niou knew it already. Fine, then kill me.
“I wanted to kill you. Make you die by some long, painful death and make others watch you dying, but maybe it would be better show if I killed your love and watch you suffer.”
“NO!” Niou shouted and turned to Yagyuu. White sand. Grains of white sand were dripping with sweat from his arms. No. No. No. No. It was all my fault. For being stupid.
“Yes, it is all your fault,” Chigata grinned devilishly. “That’s such a sad story. Almost like Romeo and Juliet.” But Niou didn’t listen to him.
“Yagyuu! No. Hiroshi. Don’t leave me, you hear me! It’s my fault, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. Don’t go! Don’t go!” And Niou hold him tightly, because yes, if he embraced him firmly, then Yagyuu couldn’t leave and nothing could ever separate them.
“It’s okay, Niou-kun, it’s okay,” whispered Yagyuu into Niou’s ears and he kept repeating it, until his voice faded away and Niou was there alone.
Then the action took a fast drift of events. Niou barely sensed it, everything was blurred for him. He heard some noise. Troop of dozen people in tight black suits appeared and shoot Chigata who immediately fell down unconscious. Half of them disappeared right the moment they got him and few of them started to take care of other boys. It all happened in a blink of an eye.
“Hey, boy, are you okay?” A tall red hair man waved in front of Niou’s face.
“Bunta…?”
“No, no, I’m not Bunta, my name is Kidou Chiaki. What is your name?” As Niou recovered wits, he noticed the man was completely different from Bunta. Taller and slightly thinner than his team-mate, his eyes were yellow and blue.
“Niou… Masaharu.” The man took Niou to a bench and both of them sat down. The saver asked Niou what had happened and Niou retold him the story, everything, into every smallest detail.
“Who are you?”
“I told you, didn’t I? Kidou Chiaki. But that’s not probably what you mean. I’m member of a special force from future.”
“Ah.”
“That was you who forced Chigata to appear, right? Thanks to you, we were able to locate him. If he stayed hidden, we would never find him.”
Niou didn’t say anything. Thanks to him, Yagyuu had died. In distance, he saw a short guy from future, talking with Yukimura.
“What? What? You are Yukimura Seiichi? That legendary tennis player? I have never thought that I would ever meet you!” Different cop came and slapped the shorter one.
“You are forbidden to talk about the future!”
Kidou nudged Niou. “Don’t worry, we will return the time and your friends will live again. Also, we have to erase your memories, so nobody of you will remember this.” Well, if the mind eraser will work…
Really? Niou wanted to ask many questions, he wanted to know reasons why, who Chigata was, how…
All of sudden everything turned black.
*
Niou woke up with a terrible headache, his head was screaming in pain. He just had an awful nightmare. It seemed so real. It felt so real. Some guy from the future called Chigata came and forced Rikkai to play life-or-death games against Seigaku. In his mind, vivid images of his friends dying kept popping out. Renji, Inui, Bunta… and Yagyuu. But then, somebody came to save them. Red hair man with yellow and blue eyes. When he touched his face, he realized that his cheeks were wet. I was crying…?
He had a sudden urge to call Yagyuu and check, if he was alright.
Contact list. Yagyuu Hiroshi. Call.
Nothing. He couldn’t get through. Pick it pick it pick it. Nothing. It was three o’clock in the morning after all. He had a bad feeling. What if something had really happened to Yagyuu? He ran from his room, took his coat and rushed as fast as he could to Yagyuu’s house. It wasn’t far away from his house, Niou was there in 10 minutes.
Ding dong. Ding dong. Somebody was coming down slowly, he heard footsteps and cracking of stairs. Quickly. He hated waiting. Finally, Yagyuu’s father came to open the door.
“Niou-kun! What are you doing here? Awww, I know I told you to come anytime you want and I am always glad to see you, but it’s three o’clock…” Yagyuu’s father gave a huge yawn and rubbed his forehead.
“Can I… can I go to see Hiroshi? I need something… Please.” Breathing heavily, he pleadingly looked at the man. Yagyuu’s father let him go in, without any interest why Niou had come, all he wanted was a proper sleep. Kids of these days, seriously. Niou ran upstairs and broke into Yagyuu’s room. Anxiety was replaced by relief. Even it was dark, Niou spotted Yagyuu sitting on his bed, wiping his eyes, looking normal as always. Blinking at Niou, Yagyuu asked: “Niou-kun… Why had you come? Had something happened?”
“It’s… Sorry, I just…” I just thought you were dead.
“You look pale, are you fine?” Yes, I am, as long as you are fine. So it was a dream, only the dream.
“Niou-kun?” Yagyuu asked again as Niou stayed quiet.
“I thought… that something had happened to you and…” Niou Masaharu, you just sound so lame right now. Then he smiled feebly. “Never mind, everything is okay.”
Yagyuu got up and came to the window opposite the door. He didn’t ask more questions. “Look at the moon, it looks nice, doesn’t it?” He turned back to Niou, who was still standing in front of the door. Their eyes met.
Silence. Darkness.
Niou slowly came closer to Yagyuu and then, unexpectedly, hugged him.
“Thank you for being here.”
It was rare to hear ‘thank you’ from Niou and it meant a lot for Yagyuu. A bit stunned, he returned the hug and murmured: “Thank you too.”
Before Niou closed his eyes, he caught a sight of red hair person under the light across the street. The man was in the black suit, waving cheerfully and then, he dematerialized into the night.
The man from his dream.
Niou strengthened the embrace. But this time, Yagyuu didn’t disappear.
Maybe miracles do happen.
Recipient's Name: lexxiescott
Author: maya_hayashi
Rating: PG-13.
Wordcount: 4551
Pairing/characters: Niou/Yagyuu, Rikkai, Seigaku
Warnings: None, I guess?
Author's Notes: Italic text = thoughts of the characters. Story is set three years after the canon. Wow, it's been some time since I wrote anything... Enjoy it! :)
Summary: All Niou wanted was a rematch with Golden Pair. He wanted to beat them and become the best doubles pair in the high school world. But instead, he had to fight against them for his life. For Yagyuu's life. Rule was easy. Win or die.
Pffffft. Niou snorted as he read.
Revolution in tennis
Known as Golden pair, Oishi Shuichirou and Kikumaru Eiji from Seishun Gakuen are considered as the best Japan's doubles pair in the high school world by rights. Achieving synchronization at age of 14, they are rivals even for adult professionals who commented that it was very hard to play against Kikumaru's acrobatic play style combined with Oishi's volley techniques. "It was amazing to play with them. Even they lost, they were smiling cheerfully. Those talents are the future of Japan's tennis. I am looking forward to our next match. But I am afraid it will be us, who lose next time,“ joked Sashihara Keito, top doubles player. Growth of the boys is beyond belief, they even developed few own tennis shots like Kikumaru Bazooka. I wonder what we will see from them in the future?
Another excellent pair is from this year’s champion school, Niou Masaharu and Yagyuu Hiroshi from Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku. Nicknamed the Trickster of Courts and the Gentleman, these two make the unpredictable pair…
Niou frowned. That was the article, written by Inoue Mamoru, who was stalking them all the time, from latest Gekkan Pro Tennis, talking about junior tennis and its future.
Excellent pair. We’re just the excellent pair. We’re not the best. The thought annoyed him so much, he believed that he and Yagyuu were way better than Golden pair, in terms of techniques, both physical and psychical conditions.
Kikumaru Bazooka sucks. Oishi’s Moon Volley sucks even more. Synchro is no use against us. Kikumaru’s stamina is twice shorter than mine. Why can’t we beat them?! Damn!
All of us want to be the best, at least once, in something. And Niou was already the Japan’s champion, but he wanted to become the best doubles pair, even if it was for few weeks before the graduation. But according to ratings, they were always second. Second. This bugged him so much. But we suck the most, because we can’t defeat them.
Still, they could change it. This Saturday, they had an official match with Seigaku planned, one of the last matches in this school year. If they win against Golden, they will get enough of points, to be the first. The best. Ii yo. That’s good.
“This time, let’s decide it fair and square,” mused Niou loudly and exactly that moment, Yagyuu entered a clubroom. “Oh, Niou-kun, you are already here? I haven’t expected anyone.”
“It’s you, Yagyuu. Haha, yeah, I ditched the classes, we were supposed to write a History exam and I hadn’t studied.”
“Aww,” Yagyuu sighed and mentally slapped his forehead. With this attitude, Niou was not going to pass graduation exams. Well, Niou himself didn’t care about it, right now he was making plans how to beat Golden Pair.
*
“So. Akaya, you are going to be our cheerleader. Here, I got you a pretty dress, look,” Bunta threw Akaya two pieces of black and red clothes.
“Haha, very amusing, senpai,” retorted sarcastically Akaya, critically examining the miniskirt and the top he had gotten.
“Indeed! That would suit you and show your nice legs,” Niou teased Akaya as well. Rikkai regulars were sitting in a train, heading to Tokyo. Dazzling sun shone so brightly, as if it was smiling. Perhaps it really was. The perfect day for a tennis match.
“Maybe if you put on a bit of make-up, you would make a sweet girl,” said Yagyuu with a playful smile on his lips, looking from a window, as if he said nothing.
“But sorry, you’re not my type.”
“Oh, that’s sad,” Bunta patted Akaya’s shoulder. Journey passed in similar manners quickly and now they were standing in front of Seigaku where they bumped into a blue team.
“Everyone, welcome here! Welcome, Yukimura-kun,” Tezuka greeted them friendly and shook hands with Yukimura. Seigaku were complete, only Echizen was missing, he was wandering somewhere in America again. They got used to the fact that he kept popping in Japan and then leaving without saying bye.
Three years ago, they would stare at one another silently (and Sanada would try to kill his opponents by his glare), but during those years, thanks to many occasions (like U17 camp, Nationals), great friendship was formed. They were rivals in tennis, but not in life and now they were chatting lively.
“Renji, I’ve come up with new Inui juice with wasabi flavour, it boosts up your energy 10 times, probability 100%, do you want to try?” Inui suggested his childhood friend who shook his head.
“No, thank you Sadaharu, I think I pass this time.” Better to pass it now, than to drink it…and pass away later.
They changed into tennis clothes in Seigaku’s clubroom which was a bit small for all of them. Every time, Niou couldn’t help himself not to gaze at Yagyuu’s topless body. Pale skin, well-developed muscles from exercising, amazing butt, long strong legs. Oh seriously. If Niou was an Internet fangirl, he would probably go ‘asdfghjkl’ right now and then again and again.
Haha, and after we win the match, we will go somewhere to celebrate it with everyone. To eat, to chat, to make fun of Sanada, that sounds great and then I can drag Yagyuu to my house and I don’t care if he refuses, yes I’ll do that and we can have the whole night just for ourselves…
“Niou, what are you doing, hurry up!” Sanada interrupted Niou from his musings. As if Sanada knew that Niou had thought of him.
Pffft, damn him, I was just getting to the more interesting part. But admit it Masaharu, you just want to fuck Yagyuu now. As everytime you see him. No no, you can’t think of that right now, you have to clear your mind, concentrate on playing tennis…
“Okay, okay,” answered Niou and smiled innocently as he caught Yagyuu’s look.
Line up for matches was decided.
Singles 3: Inui vs. Yanagi
Doubles 2: Momoshiro & Kaidou vs. Marui & Kuwahara
Singles 2: Fuji vs. Sanada
Doubles 1: Kikumaru & Oishi vs. Niou & Yagyuu
Singles 1: Yukimura vs. Tezuka
After short stretching, first pair of players was standing on a court. Without hesitation, they started playing. 1-0, Inui. 1-1, Yanagi. 1-2, Yanagi. Match went swiftly. In the middle of the game, a school principal of Seigaku appeared. Old man, maybe in his fifties to sixties, had grayish hair, on his nose, big black framed opaque glasses, he was smiling widely. “Wow! Those boys are really good! It’s hard to even see their shots!” He commented. They really were.
Inui and Renji’s strength was on the same level and soon they reached tie-break. The toughest part came now. Having a little break, suddenly a creepy voice began to speak…
“Attention, attention please!” Everyone stopped their activities and looked around, but didn’t see anyone. It seemed the voice was amplified though a megaphone.
“I’m truly sorry for interrupting your match. But I have something to tell you. Firstly I should introduce myself, I don’t want to be rude. My name is Chigata Akudori.”
Boys raised their eyebrows. And…?
“Maybe you are wondering why I’m talking to you. Well, I wanted to see some good tennis. Tennis full of passion, sweats of hard work, happiness, despair, real emotions, you know? So, I travelled from my world to this world to you, boys.”
“My world?” Akaya blurted out. There’s only Earth or is he an alien?
“No, I’m not the alien,” Chigata replied, as if he knew how to read minds. “I’m from Earth as well as you, but I come from year 2174,” said he and let out silent giggle.
“Are you joking?” asked Momoshiro and gave a little cackle.
“No, of course I’m not, I wouldn’t dare to do that. I don’t even know how to, everyone says I’m a boring guy. But, as I said, I would like to see some great tennis, I came here. In order to achieve it I made a new rule. Win or die. Sounds good, right? Those who will win, will live and those who will lose, will die. I can kill you, anytime. Is it clear? Easy, right? Because none of you want to die, you will do your best, won’t you?”
“Seriously, we are just losing time here, please, stop interrupting us or we will call police,” stated Sanada clearly. Everyone was convinced that this was just a joke. But still, there was something petrifying about the situation. People never joke about death.
“What? Call police? I don’t think that they would help you anyway. I can prove it that I’m from future. In last 150 years, Earth changed completely. Humankind was almost destroyed, by its fault, obviously. No, it wasn’t because of a war, but they polluted air and ground so badly, that they couldn’t breathe nor grow plants. That was called era of fear. Fortunately, they overcame the crisis and learnt how to take care of it better. Also, we developed things you could only dream of, like spaceships as fast as light velocity, mind readers, teleportation, but also a time machine. Though existence of the time machine is unknown for public, only few people like the most important politicians and scientists like me, who developed it, know that. It would be a catastrophe, if somebody abused it and, I give you an example, travelled to the past and helped Hitler to win 2nd world war, right? Or created a new war, it would be horrible,” he stressed the last word.
“But I don’t have such intentions, I don’t want to change the world. I just want to play a bit with you.”
0,0001934 % probability that this is happening.
“Probability 100% this is happening! Of course, I can read your mind as well. Oh, I feel so sad that you don’t believe me, people from the past are really odd, aren’t you? Okay, see, I show you a proof,” shouted Chigata. Boys and the school principle stood there paralyzed. Joke, right, just the joke. But he said that something was supposed to occur. The silence sent shivers down their spine. Doki doki. All they could hear was their throbbing heart.
All of sudden, the school principal grabbed his chest, wheezed and fell down to his knees. Before the boys could move, before anyone could react, he hit the ground heavily, his heart stopped beating. Tezuka quickly recovered, ran to give him first aid and shouted: “Call the ambulance, quickly!” Maybe they can do something…
But they didn’t manage to resuscitate him, no matter what. They even couldn’t call the ambulance, all their mobile phones were broken. That wasn’t a coincidence. That wasn’t a natural heart attack. Everything happened just in seconds or minutes.
“Why did you do that? Why did you kill him?” Tezuka groaned out, kneeling next to the pallid corpse which slowly changed into white soft sand and then it was blown away by autumn breeze.
“You wanted the proof.” Why was that happening? Run away. Run away. That was their only thought. “You can try it, but it’s useless.” Chigata was right. Around them, about ten metres from the court, there was invisible barrier which prevented them from going away. They were trapped in a time barrier Chigata had created, time didn’t flow there. The mobile phones broke down and Chigata said that nobody from outside would hear or see them. Who would go to school on Saturday, anyway. That was only beginning of their nightmare.
There’s no way out.
“Now, go to play.” And they knew he meant Renji and Inui.
“What if we refuse?”
“Then I kill both of you. But that wouldn’t be any fun. Not at all.”
“Then let’s do it,” said as one man Renji and Inui.
Ping. Ping. Ping. Those two weren’t playing seriously, the regulars could see it. Obviously, there were ridiculing Chigata guy. Mocking him. If no one wins, no one dies…? This was too transparent and Chigata noticed it.
“You’ve got 30 minutes to win, if nobody wins, then bye bye to both of you,” he said maliciously. He was playing with them as with his toys, controlling them. He liked it. They knew he did. But they couldn’t kill each other. Just couldn’t. Is there a way out of this? They kept playing. Somebody might come and save them or tell them: “Look, there’s a hidden camera!” But, the school principal died in front of them. Nobody came and they were running out of time, tiebreak score was 0-0. 4 minutes were left.
“I want to forfe-“
“NO! Don’t do it, senpai!” Kaidou shouted, interrupting Inui’s sentence. “Please, don’t…” Kaidou’s own voice betrayed him.
Sadaharu… Renji exactly understood Inui’s feelings, they had been friends for many years. He felt the same way.And he knew he wouldn’t be able to live, knowing that his best friend died for his sake because of one… one stupid guy from the future who just fooled around with them.
“Sadaharu, will we do it together?”
“Renji!”
“Senpai!”
“Yanagi! Stop!”
Renji…
“I’ve decided. Let’s do it together. As we always did,” Renji gave Inui a little smile. He didn’t regret his decision. Then he turned to his Rikkai friends. I’m sorry.
“Thanks you for everything, all the time we spent together, all the fun we had, I am sincerely happy that I had met you… Jackal, I have always admired your burning soul, the glowing fire inside of you. Never let it go out. Bunta, keep smiling, your smile always brings us happiness. Yagyuu-kun and Niou-kun, it was always fun to spend my time with you. Genichirou, do you remember the day we met? I accidently bumped into you in school hall, because I was reading a book. It was the best accident ever. Seiichi, thank you for being by my side all the time. And Akaya… After those five years, you managed to beat me after all. You really got stronger. But go even higher, Aka-“
“All time has left and we don’t have a winner. Awww, what a shame!” Chigata proclaimed, feigning sorrow. “I wanted to see good tennis… That means… What kind of death do you want?”
No one replied. “Go even higher, Akaya, for me.”
On the Seigaku side, similar conversation was going on. Inui turned to his kohai Kaidou. He had so many to tell him, but, he ran out of words. ”Kaidou… I… Thank you for everything.” White sand started to fall from his clothes and body, as well as from Renji’s. What was that? They didn’t know, but this was how the school principal had disappeared. Before they realized, tears ran down their cheeks.
“No…Please stop it, I’ll do anything, please, cut it out, I’ll do anything for you!” Yukimura begged, shouting, looking around, looking for the source of the voice, with eyes full of tears. He was the captain, right? The captain of a legendary tennis team Rikkai Dai Fuzoku. The captain who had to protect his team.
“Oh, I’m sorry, but rules were stated clearly,” Chigata sighed. “No exception.”
Renji and Inui looked at each other. Looking back to regulars, with a smile they told them: “We will meet again in the next life. Probability 100%.” Data never lies. And thus they vanished, only white sand remained and soon, it was drifted away as before. Away.
They didn’t care anymore. All Chigata heard was loud cry, shrieks of despair, exactly what made his heart dance in pleasure. He wanted more and more.
“Oh, let’s move on, boys, what do you think? Doubles two, boys, come here!”
*
No hope. Misery. Nothingness.
“Who else has to die to satisfy you?! How many of us have to die?! Tell me! Answer me!” Niou watched Yukimura pleading there in the middle of the court. He watched Akaya, sitting next to him, shaking, embracing his knees under his head, eyes were red. Akaya cried so much that he couldn’t continue anymore. What was the meaning of this? He watched Kaidou and Momoshiro, Sanada… The winners. Were they really winners? Their eyes were dull, lifeless… They did kill their friends.
Inui, Renji, Bunta, Jackal, Fuji… they were away. Disappeared with the wind.
I will give your love to Renji and Inui-san, don’t worry. Thank you for everything. Please, take care of Yuuta. Niou kept hearing their voices, last sentences, seeing their faces, before they died. At least they didn’t suffer. Now it was his and Yagyuu’s turn.
They had decided to play. To determine who would live and who would die. It was better if somebody survived and returned home. But the win brought only grief and nothing more.
“Take my life instead of theirs!”
Yukimura-buchou…
“Don’t worry, I’ll be happy to take your life after you lose, boy,” Chigata made a childish remark and then, Yagyuu rised to his feet. Clearing his throat, he gave Chigata a question.
“Excuse me, but can you tell me, how many people live in the world in year 2174?”
Pfft. Even, in such situation, Yagyuu is being well-mannered, Niou thought.
“About 14 billions on Earth, why are you asking?”
“And how many people live in Japan?”
“150 millions.”
“Have you considered the fact that some of us might be your ancestors? Let’s say that all of us would have two children and those two children would have another two children and so on. The chance that you might be one of our descendants is great. If you kill us, our potential children will never be born, so will you.”
“You are quite clever boy, huh? No, I haven’t thought of this. Very clever. I hadn’t expected this. But I have to disappoint you. I was born from test-tube.”
“You were born from tube, eh? How beautiful,” Niou snorted without thinking and stood up as well, taking place next to Yagyuu. “In that case, I want to see you, man, oh, mutant from a test tube, stop hiding.” I want to see who killed my friends. Face us.
Pause.
Nothing occurred for a while. Then, before their eyes, something started to materialize. Or somebody. Tall, handsome man, dressed in tight, grey leather suit, with sharp face features and Sanada-like haircut. Everyone stared with eyes widely open. He was the enemy.
“You called me mutant, eh,” said Chiagata and stared at both of them with the face twisted into an ugly smile.
“Yes, you are, hey look at yourself, one your eye is red and one is yellow,” Niou laughed at him courageously.
“What a cheeky boy. You aren’t scare of me? Oh, kids of the past are so horrible. They don’t have any respect, they do what they want. I wonder how you will talk after you lose, it’s now your turn isn’t it?”
Yes, it was. Long time desired match came. But Eiji nor Oishi were in state to play. Trembling, they entered the court. I don’t want to do it. I can’t. They were given two hours from Chigata. 1 hour 59 minutes.
Mistakes from Golden Pair came one after another and Niou and Yagyuu won the first set, without even touching the ball. “Kikumaru, get hold of yourself!”
This wasn’t what Niou had expected, even in his the craziest fantasy. Win or die. Funny. It reminded him U17 camp. Win or return home. Chigata stood in the corner of the court, far from others, amusingly watched the match and sometimes, uttered something and laughed. Niou wasn’t able to play against Golden. If he defeated them, he would kill them. But if he lost, that meant... Yagyuu would die. The only one he truly loved. He wasn’t concerned about himself, but Yagyuu couldn’t die. Just couldn’t. 1-0 Niou & Yagyuu. 2-0 Niou & Yagyuu. 3-0 Niou & Yagyuu. 3-1 Kikumaru & Oishi. 3-2 Kikumaru & Oishi. 3-3.4-3. 4-4.
Niou just recalled the memory from middle high school. In the third year, in Kantou finals, he and Yagyuu played against Golden Pair and for the first time, they switched. He loved the moment when everyone discovered that they had been tricked. Those faces. That was epic.
5-4. 5-5. 5-6. 6-6. Just kept playing. Maybe something would happen. Or not. Niou wasn’t the one who believed in miracles. He had to do something, miracles don’t happen. He will do something.
He synchronized with Golden Pair.
Niou-kun.
Do you think, there is some ‘next life’? Niou asked.
Definitely, there is, answered Oishi.
Then I demand a proper rematch next time.
What do you mean, muttered Eiji silently.
Niou left.
Before he could say or do anything, Chigata started again.
“Oh guys, your tennis is boring. I think I go to find somebody else to toy with.”
Is he going to kill us?
“No, I don’t kill you all. Go home, do whatever you want, tell it everyone, nobody is going to believe you by the way.”
Really? Really?
Small spark of hope.
“Though, one of you had made me upset. And he won’t slip through without a punishment.” All eyes turned to Niou, including Chigata’s. Niou knew it already. Fine, then kill me.
“I wanted to kill you. Make you die by some long, painful death and make others watch you dying, but maybe it would be better show if I killed your love and watch you suffer.”
“NO!” Niou shouted and turned to Yagyuu. White sand. Grains of white sand were dripping with sweat from his arms. No. No. No. No. It was all my fault. For being stupid.
“Yes, it is all your fault,” Chigata grinned devilishly. “That’s such a sad story. Almost like Romeo and Juliet.” But Niou didn’t listen to him.
“Yagyuu! No. Hiroshi. Don’t leave me, you hear me! It’s my fault, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. Don’t go! Don’t go!” And Niou hold him tightly, because yes, if he embraced him firmly, then Yagyuu couldn’t leave and nothing could ever separate them.
“It’s okay, Niou-kun, it’s okay,” whispered Yagyuu into Niou’s ears and he kept repeating it, until his voice faded away and Niou was there alone.
Then the action took a fast drift of events. Niou barely sensed it, everything was blurred for him. He heard some noise. Troop of dozen people in tight black suits appeared and shoot Chigata who immediately fell down unconscious. Half of them disappeared right the moment they got him and few of them started to take care of other boys. It all happened in a blink of an eye.
“Hey, boy, are you okay?” A tall red hair man waved in front of Niou’s face.
“Bunta…?”
“No, no, I’m not Bunta, my name is Kidou Chiaki. What is your name?” As Niou recovered wits, he noticed the man was completely different from Bunta. Taller and slightly thinner than his team-mate, his eyes were yellow and blue.
“Niou… Masaharu.” The man took Niou to a bench and both of them sat down. The saver asked Niou what had happened and Niou retold him the story, everything, into every smallest detail.
“Who are you?”
“I told you, didn’t I? Kidou Chiaki. But that’s not probably what you mean. I’m member of a special force from future.”
“Ah.”
“That was you who forced Chigata to appear, right? Thanks to you, we were able to locate him. If he stayed hidden, we would never find him.”
Niou didn’t say anything. Thanks to him, Yagyuu had died. In distance, he saw a short guy from future, talking with Yukimura.
“What? What? You are Yukimura Seiichi? That legendary tennis player? I have never thought that I would ever meet you!” Different cop came and slapped the shorter one.
“You are forbidden to talk about the future!”
Kidou nudged Niou. “Don’t worry, we will return the time and your friends will live again. Also, we have to erase your memories, so nobody of you will remember this.” Well, if the mind eraser will work…
Really? Niou wanted to ask many questions, he wanted to know reasons why, who Chigata was, how…
All of sudden everything turned black.
*
Niou woke up with a terrible headache, his head was screaming in pain. He just had an awful nightmare. It seemed so real. It felt so real. Some guy from the future called Chigata came and forced Rikkai to play life-or-death games against Seigaku. In his mind, vivid images of his friends dying kept popping out. Renji, Inui, Bunta… and Yagyuu. But then, somebody came to save them. Red hair man with yellow and blue eyes. When he touched his face, he realized that his cheeks were wet. I was crying…?
He had a sudden urge to call Yagyuu and check, if he was alright.
Contact list. Yagyuu Hiroshi. Call.
Nothing. He couldn’t get through. Pick it pick it pick it. Nothing. It was three o’clock in the morning after all. He had a bad feeling. What if something had really happened to Yagyuu? He ran from his room, took his coat and rushed as fast as he could to Yagyuu’s house. It wasn’t far away from his house, Niou was there in 10 minutes.
Ding dong. Ding dong. Somebody was coming down slowly, he heard footsteps and cracking of stairs. Quickly. He hated waiting. Finally, Yagyuu’s father came to open the door.
“Niou-kun! What are you doing here? Awww, I know I told you to come anytime you want and I am always glad to see you, but it’s three o’clock…” Yagyuu’s father gave a huge yawn and rubbed his forehead.
“Can I… can I go to see Hiroshi? I need something… Please.” Breathing heavily, he pleadingly looked at the man. Yagyuu’s father let him go in, without any interest why Niou had come, all he wanted was a proper sleep. Kids of these days, seriously. Niou ran upstairs and broke into Yagyuu’s room. Anxiety was replaced by relief. Even it was dark, Niou spotted Yagyuu sitting on his bed, wiping his eyes, looking normal as always. Blinking at Niou, Yagyuu asked: “Niou-kun… Why had you come? Had something happened?”
“It’s… Sorry, I just…” I just thought you were dead.
“You look pale, are you fine?” Yes, I am, as long as you are fine. So it was a dream, only the dream.
“Niou-kun?” Yagyuu asked again as Niou stayed quiet.
“I thought… that something had happened to you and…” Niou Masaharu, you just sound so lame right now. Then he smiled feebly. “Never mind, everything is okay.”
Yagyuu got up and came to the window opposite the door. He didn’t ask more questions. “Look at the moon, it looks nice, doesn’t it?” He turned back to Niou, who was still standing in front of the door. Their eyes met.
Silence. Darkness.
Niou slowly came closer to Yagyuu and then, unexpectedly, hugged him.
“Thank you for being here.”
It was rare to hear ‘thank you’ from Niou and it meant a lot for Yagyuu. A bit stunned, he returned the hug and murmured: “Thank you too.”
Before Niou closed his eyes, he caught a sight of red hair person under the light across the street. The man was in the black suit, waving cheerfully and then, he dematerialized into the night.
The man from his dream.
Niou strengthened the embrace. But this time, Yagyuu didn’t disappear.
Maybe miracles do happen.